Beveled plywood siding



May 27,

Fig.l

JNVENToR.

Richard E. Wcllfom` BEVEUID PLYWOD SIDING Richard E. Walton, Everett,Wash., assignor to Walton Plywood Company, Inc., a corporationApplication March 23, 1954, Serial No. 418,017

4 Claims. (Cl. 20M-5) This invention relates to wooden siding as used inthe building of homes, and the like. More particularly, it has referenceto beveled siding made from plywood that is manufactured in accordancewith present day practice, and wherein the grain of the wood ofsuccessive veneer plies extends at right angles to each other,preferably transversely and longitudinally of the pieces of siding.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a novel andimproved beveled siding made from plywood panels which possess certainnew features and advantages. Furthermore, to provide siding from boardsor planks of plywood by the diagonal and lengthwise sawing of the saidboards or planks, thus to provide from each, two like pieces of beveledsiding, each of which pieces will have an outer surface ply that issmooth and untouched by the diagonal cutting operation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide beveledplywood siding in the manner above 4stated wherein the thin edges of thepieces are of plural ply thickness with grain of the plural pliescrossed, thus to provide substantially greater strength and to assureagainst splitting, warping or breaking olf of the feather edge.

Another object of this invention is to provide panels of bevel siding ofsuch size and dimensions that will permit greater utility or coverage ofa wall surface for a given quantity of siding.

A further object of the invention resides in the specific manner inwhich the individual planks or boards of plywood are formed and thensawed to provide the beveled pieces of siding and in the manner in whichthe sawed pieces are applied toa wall in overlapped relationship.

Yet another object of the invention is to manufacture beveled, plywoodsiding of the present character that embodies novel details ofconstruction that provide for ventilation when applie-d to a wallsurface.

In accomplishing the above mentioned, and` other objects of theinvention, I have provided the improved details of construction, thepreferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a piece of plywood siding embodied bythe present invention. p

Fig. 2 is an end view of a plywood board, or plank from which siding ofthe present kind is to be made, indicating by a dot and dash linethereacross, the plane of the diagonal cut for dividing the board toform two like pieces of siding.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a wall showing the overlapping ofthe edges of the siding as applied to the wall.

Fig. 4 is an inside face view of one of the pieces of beveled sidingindicating the direction of grain of the successive plies. i

Fig. 5 is an inside face View of a panel that is grooved forventilation.

rates Patent "ice Fig. 6 is a face View of a panel of plywood at muchreduced scale, indicating by dash lines therealong, where the panel canbe sawed to provide three boards therefrom, each adapted to be dividedto provide two pieces of siding.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

The present siding can be made economically from plywood panels of thekind now extensively manufactured and comprising a plurality of thinplies of wood veneer, glued together with the grain of the wood of thesuccessive plies alternatively directed crosswise and length Wise of thepanels. Such panels are generally made four feet wide and veight ortwelve feet long, but such dimensions need not be strictly adhered to. Aplywood panel such as that designated in Fig. 6 by numeral 10, can belongitudinally divided for example, as along the two `dash lines i1, toform three plywood planks or boards 12 of equal width, or likewise, itcan be divided to provide more or less boards of equal width. Presentdaypractice is to so cut the panels as to form strips l2, i6, 18, 20 or 24inches wide.

Plywood panels now being used for the present purpose comprise sevenveneer plies united under heat and pressure with a thermo-settng resinor glue. The outside or surface plies thereof are preferably disposedwith the grain of the wood directed lengthwise of the panel. With theexception of the face plies, the exact thickness of the successive pliesis of no particular significance but at present, it is practical anddesirable to use opposite surface forming plies that are 3/32 thick.Next within these surface plies, are plies that art %2 thick, thenwithin them are plies that are 3732 thick, and there is a central orcore ply that is %,2" thick; the overall thickness of the finished panelbeing approximately Vs. If desired, panels ranging in thickness from 1/2to lil/2l could be used.

It is to be understood that a five ply veneer may also be lused and thatthe particular number of plies is not a controlling or important featureof my invention. It is important that the opposite face plies berelatively thin or approximately 570,2" thick for reasons which willhereinafter become apparent.

To form the present beveled siding pieces, the planks or boards, asproduced by the longitudinal dividing of the plywood panels, arediagonally divided in the plane of the dot-dash line 13 shown in Fig. 2.

It is of significance that this diagonal cut be definitely located sothat the thin edge of the two pieces of siding thus formed will comprisemore than one ply in thickness. Preferably the diagonal cutis so made asto leave the thin or feather edges of the two pieces of sidingapproximately two plies in thickness. At least, the thin edge of a pieceshould be one and one-half plies in thickness. VBy so cutting the panel,or board, two like pieces of siding are formed, each with an outersurface ply 14 that is smooth, and with its grain extending lengthwisethereof and parallel to the surface. All glue joints, through which thediagonal cutis made will be on that side designated as the inside of thepieces and therefrom when the siding is applied to a wall as in Fig. 3,these joints or glue lines are not exposed to weather.

If it is desired, the plywood panels 10 may, before cutting, be surfacedwith a thin layer of plastic skin made from phenolic resins andcellulose fibers. The plastic skin is bonded strongly to the panel bythe application of heat and pressure so that the wood itself will failbefore` the plastic surface is dclaminated.` A plastic impregnated papermay also be used and applied in a similar manner.

Such Isurface layers l5 have been shown on the opposite surfaces of theplywood plank 12 in Fig. 2 and also such a coating has been shown tocover a portion of the piece of siding shown in Fig. l.

It is preferred also, in cutting the planks or boards from plywoodpanels, that the dividing cuts 1l through the panel will be so inclinedthat the edges of the pieces will be beveled as at 16, and particularlyto provide that the butt end surface will have a slight outward anddownward slope when the pieces are applied to a wall. Thus the loweredges of the outer plies will overhang and water will drip easilytherefrom and not run to the inside edge; the beveling of the butt edgebeing shown in Fig. 3.

It is also desirableto provide the pieces of siding with Ventilatingchannels whereby air can be admitted to their under sides when appliedto a wall. @ne way of providing1 such ventilation is to slightly spacethe edges of adjacent pieces of veneer which form the inner plies, thusto provide what are referred to as core gaps; such gaps, 2li, have beenshown in Fig. 4. These gaps, as provided between plies, form channelswhich open to the lower or butt edges of the siding, and to the insidesurface of the piece as seen in Fig.l 3. Such gaps may be located atdesired intervals in the various inside plies.

Another way to provide ventilation is to transversely groove the insidesurfaces of the beveled pieces, as een at Z5 in Fig. 5. in thisgrooving, the grooves should terminate about mid-way between thelongitudinal `edges of the piece so as not to weaken the thinner edgeportion.

The present siding differs from that shown -in U. S. Patent No.2,390,687 in that it is made from panels of standard plywood, and whilein its manufacture it is divided through several of the inside plies, itstill presents an outer surface ply that is of fall thicknessthroughout. The sheathing of the above patent is made by dividing of aplural ply panel wherein the center veneer ply is of approximately threetimes the thickness of the surface plies and is the only one that is cutin the diagonal dividing to provide the two pieces of beveled sheathing.Then, in the use of these beveled pieces, the sawed surfaces are thosethat are exposed to the weather.

As previously indicated, it is desirable to produce a bevel siding withsubstantial thickness at its butt or thick end. Such thickness isexposed and gives anappearance of greater strength and also creates agreater i shadow line which is believed to be a desirable featuredenoting quality and a more pleasing eect. Se as to accomplish thisobjective from a 3%1, Ms or l. piece of plywood and yet to maintain aplurality of plies on the thin or feather edge, it is preferred to makethe face or surface veneers relatively thin or approximately fgg thick.With such construction, it is possible to form the bevel siding with athin edge and still maintain the plural ply thickness and also maintainsubstantial thickness at the butt end.

Beveled siding made 'from plywood panels as herebeforc described hasanother novel and important advantage in that the width of the sidingmay be substantially greater for example 18, 2Ov or 24". Siding of suchwidth permits greater utilization or coverage with a given board footquantity. lt will be understood that thc siding is overlapped whenapplied to a wall. The conventional overlap is 2 but may be l1/2 to21/2. With such overlap 25% of an 8 board is covered up or 20% of a l0board. However, with a 24" board, less than 10% is covered so that l0%less siding is required to cover a given wall area. This fact will makepossible a substantial saving in cost and there being only one half thenumber of boards to handle and align will increase the speed ofapplication, and the resulting proportion of savings in labor costs.Ordinary wood siding is manufactured at widths substantially lessactually ordered. ln other words, l0 width wood siding is actually onlyapproximately 91/2 wide and 8 only 7%, etc. This plywood siding is ,4preferably fully width to within %2, plus or minus, which accentuatesthe savings to the consumer as mentioned above.

ln the following claims, the term commercial plywood is used todesignate that kind of plywood that is made up of plies of wood,alternately laid with the grain of the wood at right angles to eachother, and the plies glued together. Grdinarily the grain of the wood ofsurface forming plies extends lengthwise of the panels, and the panelsfrom which the siding is made is approximately /s thick and comprisesseven plies.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A bevel siding made from a laminate of at least three plies ofsubstantially `equal thickness wherein the grain of each ply runs atright angle to the next adjacent plies, said siding having a butt edgeof substantial thickness extending longitudinally thereof and a featheredge, the thickness of which is greater than one ply, extending parallelto said butt edge and spaced therefrom, an outer surface ply of uniformthickness throughout its length and width, an undersurface ply oftapered thickness extending from the butt edge toward said feather edgeand terminating intermediate the parallel edges, a plastic skin bondedto said outer ply and providing a uniformly smooth surface and sealingthe face of said outer ply.

2. A bevel siding made from a glued laminate of at least tive relativelythin veneer plies wherein the grain of each ply runs at right angle tothe grain of the next adjacent plies, said siding including a butt edgeextending longitudinally thereof and including at least three plies, afeather edge parallel to and spaced from said butt edge and includingmore than one ply, an outer surface ply of uniform thickness, an undersurface which includes portions of at least two plies wherein theexposed grain of such plies runs at right angle one to each other andthe outer ply of said under surface forms a portionof said butt edge andtapers toward said feather edge and terminates intermediate the paralleledges, and a plastic skin on said outer surface ply sealing the facethereof.

3. A bevel siding made from seven ply plywood wherein the grain of eachply runs at right angle to theA grain of the next adjacent plies, saidsiding including a butt edge extending longitudinally thereof and afeather edge spaced from and parallel to the butt edge7 said butt edgeincluding at least four plies and said feather edgeincluding at leasttwo plies, an outer surface ply of uniform thickness extending to thefull length and width of the siding, an under surface which includesportions of at least three plies with the exposed grains of such pliesrunning at right angle one to each other, each of said plies which areexposed on the under surface having an edge thereof which forms aportion of the butt edge and the under surface plies being tapered fromthe butt edge toward the feather edge, so that at least two of saidunder surface plies terminate intermediate the parallel edges and inspaced relation to each other, and a plastic skin on said outer surfaceply sealing the face thereof.

4. A bevel siding made from a glued laminate consisting of liverelatively thin veneer plies wherein the grain of each ply runs at rightangles to the grain of the next adjacent plies, said siding having abutt edge extending longitudinally thereof and including the full uthickness of three of said plies and at least the partial thickness ofthe fourth ply, said siding also including a feather edge parallel toand spaced from said butt edge and including more than one full ply,said siding having an outer surface ply of uniform thickness, andanundersurface which includes portions of the remaining four plies, saidundersurface being tapered from the butt edge to the feather edge withrespect to the outer surface of saidouter ply so as to expose the gluelines between adjacent plies on such undersurface such that the severalplies thus exposed have their grains running at right angles to eachother to minimize warping and bellying, said exposed glue lines and thecorresponding edges of the plies constituting the undersurface lyinggenerally parallel to the butt and feather edges but intermediate thesame and with the several exposed glue lines being in relativelyuniformly spaced relationship to each other between the butt and featheredges, and a plastic skin on the outer surface ply sealing the outerface thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ShullFeb. 28, 1893 Carpenter May 6, 1941 Lindahl Apr. 27, 1943 Fink Dec. 4,1945 Weseman July 2, 1946 Ryall Oct. 2, 1951

